Adaron “Pops” Jackson (at the piano), director of the David and Thelma Institute for Jazz Studies at UMSL and assistant teaching professor of music at UMSL, performs with the Greater St. Louis Jazz Orchestra last Friday during the return of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Educator, jazz musician and clinician Adaron “Pops” Jackson, who has performed and toured nationally and internationally, has joined the board of directors for Pianos for People, the nonprofit organization that provides free pianos and lessons to those who couldn’t otherwise afford them.  Originally from East St. Louis, Illinois, Jackson – who goes by “Pops” — currently serves as Director of the David and Thelma Steward Institute for Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, where he conducts the University Jazz Orchestra and teaches Jazz Improvisation. As a composer and arranger, Jackson has composed work for various ensembles ranging from small to large, most recently with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. 

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